Industrial processes, such as petroleum refining, water treatment, materials manufacturing, and the like, often require constant monitoring of process data whose values are changing in real-time to ensure the process is performing as expected or desired. Such data may include, for example, pressure, temperature, and flow rate of a liquid or gas being maintained or transferred in a conduit or container. Typically, a computer system receives and displays such information from sensors to allow one or more users, such as a process operator or shift manager, to monitor the process data in a real-time manner. In addition, such a computer system may be located local to or distant from the particular process being monitored.
To facilitate mobility, laptop computers that possess the processing power of desktop models are sometimes used to facilitate receipt and display of the data generated by an industrial process at a remote location. However, other communication devices, such as cell phones and personal digital assistants (PDAs), while providing more mobility, may not provide the same processing or graphics capabilities required to adequately monitor the entire process. Further, a particular user may not be interested in observing the entire process, but instead only desire to monitor a particular portion of the process, such as the functioning of a specific pump or valve.